Crypto VC roundup: Bridge coffer totals $58m, Edge Matrix Chain raises $20m

By Anthony Patrick

August 31, 2024 at 3:30 pm

Edited by Anthony Patrick

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Crypto VC roundup: Bridge coffer totals $58m, Edge Matrix Chain raises $20m

Venture capitalists are pumping more money into fewer deals.

That’s according to the latest VC report from London-based analytics firm, GlobalData. The trend is especially evident in the U.S. where total VC funding raised by startups improved by 2.4% year-over-year from January to July. However, there was a 41% decline in VC deal volume.

Still, the U.S. “continues to lead the global VC landscape with a significant gap” over its peers (i.e., China, Europe) leading both in deal count and funding value, driven by a surge in deals exceeding $100 million.

Venture rounds in the crypto sector rarely reach that level. This year’s exceptions include Berachain, the bear-themed blockchain platform, which secured $100 million in funding, and Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol, raising $150 million in a series A round.

Still, crypto startups continue to attract plenty of investor love, and this past week was no different. According to crypto fundraising tracker, Crypto Fundraising, over $141 million was raised between Aug. 25 and Aug. 31.

Below we look at a few standouts (not including the funding rounds with undisclosed amounts).

Bridge, $58 million

Bridge, a global stablecoin payment network, has raised $58 million in funding thus far, including $40 million in fresh capital.
Sequoia, Ribbit and Index are among its backers, according to Fortune, which broke the story.
The startup, co-founded by former Square and Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, now counts Coinbase among its customers — the other being SpaceX.

Edge Matrix Chain, $20 million

Edge Matrix Chain, which specializes in multi-chain artificial intelligence infrastructure, collected $20 million in a round led by Amber Group and Polygon Venture.
One Comma, Kapley Judge and Associated Corporations, Cyberrock Venture Fund, Candaq Fintech Group, Hameem Raees Chowdhury also joined the effort.
Edge Matrix hopes to put the funds toward a Layer 1 blockchain and, ultimately, introduce a new DeFi asset class backed by tokenized real-world GPU resources.

Space and Time, $20 million

Space and Time, or SxT, nabbed $20 million in a Series A round that included Cypher Capital, Framework Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital and Hivemind Capital.
The startup — offering index data for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) ecosystems — raised $50 million in total.
Other backers include Microsoft’s M12 Ventures, DCG, F-Prime Capital, OKX Ventures, Circle Ventures and Alumni Ventures, Fortune reported.

Solayer, $12 million

Solayer Labs clinched $12 million in seed funding. Polychain Capital led the round; Big Brain Holdings, Hack VC, Nomad Capital, Race Capital, ABCDE, and Maelstrom also participated.
The startup is developing a Solana (SOL) restaking protocol.

Gameplay Galaxy, $11.17 million

Gameplay Galaxy, a web3 video game studio, amassed $11.17 million as part of a seed extension round.
Blockchain Capital and Merit Circle co-led the round; Several anonymous investors also took part.

Myco io, $10 million

UAE-based Web3 streaming platform, Myco, completed the first closing of its Series A funding round, which included a $10-million sum.
Daman Investments, Aptos Labs, B Digital, Mocha Ventures, Art3 Foundation, Ghaf Capital Partners, Mix Media Network, Factor6 Capital Partners, and Enjinstarter joined the campaign along with 88 accredited investors via Republic.com.

Double Jump Tokyo, $10 million

SBI Investment led a $10-million Series D funding round for Japanese web3 game maker Double Jump.Tokyo, a developer of blockchain games and infrastructures.
Sony Group, Taisu Ventures, Gate Ventures, TM Capital and Bing Ventures also participated.